Second Chance
by SilverShoes17
Summary: Mimi died, along with her and Roger's baby girl. A year later, will a chance meeting bring Roger to a new love? reviews are love.
1. Chapter 1

**is a disclaimer even neccessary? it's FAN fiction, obviously no one owns anything.**

**First RENT fic on this account! tell me if it's good or bad, i literally wrote this in one 24 hour span, so i don't know, lol.**

**REVIEWS= love**

He looked down at the simple gravestone in front of him.

_Mimi Rosalinda Marquez-Davis_

_February 24, 1970-November 17, 1991_

No fancy added inscription, just a basic statement that she had existed. It was all they could afford.

The final date was exactly one year ago. One year ago he lost his love. A single tear escaped Roger Davis's eye. He placed a single rose by the stone. He had made it a sort of ritual, starting on the 3 month anniversary of Mimi's death, to go see her on the 17th of each month. He realized that because it had been a year, he should at least try to move on a little, but he wasn't that kind of person. He had spent 3 years of his life loving her, he wasn't going to forget that easily. He wouldn't _let_ himself forget.

Beside Mimi's grave marker was another, smaller one.

_Lucia Andreina Davis_

_November 15, 1991_

Only one date listed, no need for a second one. Roger's daughter was a stillborn. He truly believes that was what killed his wife, her broken heart. They had both been so excited to have a little girl, but in an instant those dreams were shattered. Roger, though he never actually knew her, loved his little girl. Every night as he said goodnight to Mimi, he also said goodnight to his little Lucia. He knew that it was his and Mimi's fault for losing their child, for the HIV. But still, he could never really blame Mimi or himself, for if they were not sick they would not have found each other.

Roger said goodbye to his wife and child and left the cemetary.

* * *

"Hey, man," Mark said as Roger entered the loft apartment. He didn't want to say anything else that was certainly on his mind, like how Mimi had been gone for a year along with Lucia, and Roger should at least try to move on, or begin to climb back out of his depressed state of being.

Roger simply nodded in acknowledgement of his roommate.

Mark and Collins exchanged a look as Roger took off his coat and made his way to his bedroom.

"I know he loved her, still loves her, _them_. Hell, it's still that way for me with Angel," Collins said quietly to Mark. "But he really should stop this. I get that it's the one year anniversary but still, he hasn't even tried to get past it. He won't forget her, obviously, but I really doubt she would want him acting like this."

"Maybe he just needs a little encouragement," Mark suggested.

"Like us setting him up with someone? My scarf wearing friend, have you met Roger Davis? He is not exactly the blind dating type."

"Well, we have to do something," Mark said, looking outside the window to the snow sprinkled street below them.

* * *

Across town, 20 year old Chloe Townley raced down the stairs against the working class citizens to catch her subway. She carefully held her portfolio of her sketches over her head as to not damage them. Once she got on her train, she sat down in a huff and started humming to herself absentmindedly, playing with the fraying edge of her coat. She was on her way to an interview in the Village to sketch a mural for an elementary school's main wall outside the playground. It was a relatively simple, not too high paying job, but she would take what she could get. As the announcement that the next stop would be the one she had to get off at came on, she pulled the address out of her pocket and stood up. Her appointment was at 4:15 and it was already 3:55. She bounced up and down as if it would cause the train to stop and the doors to open.

When they finally did, Chloe ran towards the stairs that led her to the streets of the lower East Side. She paused, only to look at the address and her map, then took off again in the direction of the school. She arrived there at 4:09.

"Hello," She said to the secretary in the school's from office. "My name is Chloe Townley. I'm here to see a Mr. Meyer for an interview about the mural." She shuffled her portfolio case to her other arm.

"Of course, Ms. Townley," the secretary said cheerfully. "Mr. Meyer has been expecting you, right this way."

Chloe was led through a brightly colored hallway. Artwork and class projects of the children hung on bulletein boards on either side of her. Several students, she saw, had even won ribbons in local art contests. They finally approached the principal's office.

"Just one moment," the secretary said. "I'll go tell him you are here." The woman slipped into the room, and a minute later she returned. "You can go in now."

"Thank you," Chloe said as she caught the door before it could completely close again. As she entered the room, she saw a man organizing papers into a file cabinet. She cleared her throat.

"Oh, yes. You must be Chloe Townley," he said, shaking her hand. "I am Will Meyer, please have a seat."

"Thank you Mr. Meyer," she said shyly. She knew if she screwed up at this interview she had no back-up job lined up. She straightened up slightly in her chair to show confidence.

"Well, what do you have to show me?" he said. Chloe pulled out a few sketches. Her first was one of a group of children, all smiling. Then was her idea of all the student's handprints on the wall in the shape of a peace sign. She showed him several more designs as well.

"Not that the other options weren't extraordinary," Mr. Meyer began. "But I really like your first sketch. It will show that the students, no matter what they look like, are all students nonetheless. Congratulations, Ms. Townley, you're hired!"

"Oh thank you, thank you so much Mr. Meyer," Chloe said, shaking his hand repeatedly to keep herself from jumping to hug him. "When do you need me to start?"

* * *

One cold afternoon in early December, Roger Davis took a walk around the Village. Mark and Collins all but carried him down the flight of stairs to get him out of the house. They told him to take a walk, to find something to occupy his time for a few hours.

He walked past all the shops and locally run businesses. He saw children in the playground at the school having snowball fights and making snowmen and snow angels. He thought about how Lucia would be doing the same thing if she had survived. He shrugged off the thought. He had to think in the moment, not in the 'what could have been.' He then heard light singing coming from around the corner, he decided to investigate.

He found a young woman holding a paint brush, surrounded by paint cans, and an easel with a piece of paper clipped onto it. The wall had chalk drawings on it, an outline, Roger guessed, for her to go by. As Roger took a step to walk away, his shoe made a loud crunch in the snow. The woman jumped.

"Oh," she said. "You scared me, I didn't see you there."

"I'm sorry," Roger said awkwardly. "Well, I'll be on my way then."

"Can I ask you a question?" The woman said, catching Roger's attention before he could completely turn to walk away. "It'll just take a second."

"Shoot," Roger agreed.

"What do you think?" She asked pointing to the rough sketch on the wall. "Good? Bad? Any other thoughts? I want to get a tip so it needs to be perfect."

Roger examined the outline on the wall.

"Looks good," he said finally. "If they don't give you a tip, they have no taste in elementary school wall art."

She laughed. "Thanks," she paused for a moment, looking at the wall. "I'm Chloe by the way."

"Roger," he extended his hand out for her to shake, which she did. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she replied. "Hey, I think I'll be done with the base around 5," she said shyly, she had never been really good with this sort of thing. "Do you think you might want to go get a drink after?"

Chloe looked at him, waiting for an answer. Roger thought for a moment. If he went with her, did that mean he would be betraying Mimi and Lucia? Or did they _want _this to happen? Did they _send_ this girl to him to help him move on? He looked up as if he were expecting an answer from the two girls he loved the most in his life.

"Sure," Roger finally responded, smiling a little. "Meet you here at 5 then?"

"Sounds good," Chloe replied, grinning brightly. "See you then."

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, before y'all are like 'that was sooo lame when she asked him out without talking to him that much blah blah blah...' know that I have never written anything like that before and did that simply to get the story going.**

**And here is chapter 2!**

**remember my motto-**

**reviews=love=more chapters.**

**Here goes (haha)...**

Chloe looked at her watch after putting her paint supplies in closet of the art room in the school. _4:57. _

"Good, I finished just in time," she said quietly to herself as she locked the closet door.

She went to stand outside by the wall.

* * *

Roger really had no idea of what he agreed to. He said he would meet Chloe and he couldn't help but think it was Mimi and Lucia telling him something. Allowing him to move on from them and have a new life. Even if it wasn't them at all, if he believed it was, then he could get through this night without falling apart.

In the main room, Mark was messing with his camera settings at the window seat and Collins was reading a book on the couch. They looked up when they saw Roger enter the room. They were shocked to see him clean shaven and in what was probably his only pair of nice jeans.

"Bye guys, I'm going out for a bit," Roger said, walking out of his room and putting his coat on at the same time. Mark and Collins looked at each other, then at him. He was acting oddly happy for a change.

"And where, might I ask, are you going to?" Collins inquired his friend from the sofa.

"Um, to the Life Cafe with someone I met today to get a drink," Roger rushed through his sentence. He grabbed his scarf. "I shouldn't be too long."

And with that he walked out the door.

"See," Mark gloated, as he saw Roger walk out the door of the building into the streets of the Village. He put his camera down and stood up proudly from his spot at the window and walked over to his friend's place on the sofa, sitting next to him. "Just a little encouragement."

"I do believe that it was _my_ idea to get him out of the house today," the college professor said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly and he went back to reading his book.

* * *

Roger approached Chloe at the school just as the timed streetlights were coming on. 'This is for you, my loves,' he thought to his two angels.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, his breath showing in the cold air. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

"It's fine," Chloe said. "Let's go then."

They walked through the doors of the Life Cafe. Roger hadn't been here since a few days before Mimi went into the hospital. He didn't show the memory that came with the cafe though.

The two got a table by the window.

"So," Chloe began. "What do you do?" Roger looked confused. "Like for work?"

"I'm a musician," he replied. "And you are a painter." He added, getting rid of the need for him to ask her the same question. She looked down smiling.

"What kind of music do you play? Anything I would know?" She asked, taking a sip of her beer. She was trying to keep up the small talk to eliminate the awkwardness that she was sure was a mutual feeling.

"I am currently in between bands right now, so even I don't know the answer to that question to tell you the truth," Roger responded, not sure if he just hurt his own pride or made a small joke. He decided to change to an easy topic. "So have you ever been here before?" He took a sip of his beer.

He excused himself to go to the restroom just before his AZT beeper went off. That was a secret for another day.

They continued to make casual small talk for a few hours.

"I really should be getting home," Chloe said, looking at her watch. It was 9_:37_. Much too early, by Roger and his friend's standards, for someone to actually _want _to be home at. "It was nice meeting you." She got up and put her coat on and grabbed her purse, putting 50 cents on the table. "See you around I guess."

Roger was very confused. _She_ asked _him _out. She shouldn't be this eager to leave, this early.

"Well can I walk you home or something?" He offered. "It really isn't safe to be walking around alone."

"No, it's fine. I have to take the subway anyways," she said hurriedly as she made her way to the exit.

"Wait!" Roger called out. If his girls were sending Chloe to him, he wasn't going to let her get away. "When can I see you again?"

Chloe stopped, the door already half open.

"I'll be painting at the school all this week," she smiled. "Bye." And she walked out the door.

"I hope you two know what you are doing," Roger whispered to his Mimi and Lucia.

* * *

Chloe had to run to catch her train but she still made it. She took a seat in the near empty subway car, leaned her head backwards and closed her eyes. She had had a wonderful time with Roger. And that was the problem. As soon as he found out about her, he would run away without looking back.

She finally arrived back home at her small apartment in Queens a half hour later.

"Hey, Chlo," her older brother, Matt said quietly as she entered the tiny kitchen. Chloe was about to say 'Hi' at a regular volume before he stopped her. "Shh, I just got her to sleep."

"I'm sorry I got back so late. I wasn't even paying attention to the time. Thank you for taking care of her tonight on such short notice," Chloe whispered, hugging him. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes ma'am. And it's no problem. Love you," he said, kissing her cheek and opening the door. "And I expect full details on this guy when I get here tomorrow. Bye."

"Love you too," she said rolling her eyes at his remark. "Bye."

Chloe quietly closed the door as not to wake up the sleeping girl. She walked into the child's small bedroom and cautiously stood beside the crib, careful to not jerk it. The night lamp on the small bedside table was on, making the already elaborately painted walls all kinds of unique colors. The dreaming girl had a pacifier in her mouth. Chloe kissed her fingers then touched the baby's forehead and quietly stood up.

"Sleep tight, Hannah. Mommy loves you," Chloe said, blowing a kiss to her daughter as she left the room.

She went into her room and showered and got into her pajamas. She just layed in bed with the lamp on, thinking. She thought she was probably a little quick to show her interest in Roger, but there was something about him that made her jump at the opportunity. His eyes were what first caught her attention. Something about them showed he had a story he needed to share with someone. She figured they were alike in that way, though she wasn't sure if their stories had the same sympathy factor or not.

She knew, if she saw him again, and she did want to see him again, she would eventually have to tell him about Hannah. She just had to find the right words. She couldn't blatantly say "I got pregnant freshman year of college and the father dumped me so I had to drop out to raise the baby alone." If only it could be that simple and she could tell him it direct like that in reality. But it would never be that simple. She decided she would get to know him a lot better before she would even consider telling him about Hannah.

Chloe turned off her lamp and amid her many thoughts fell asleep.

* * *

Roger walked up the last flight of stairs in the building. He had had a really good time with Chloe tonight. He silently thanked Mimi and Lucia before he walked into the loft apartment smiling.

"Hi-ya, Roger!" Maureen said, noticing his goofy grin. "Where were you?"

"Hey Maureen," he replied, ignoring her question. He walked over to the kitchen and taking a seat at the counter. "Where is everyone?"

"Well," Maureen began. "Mark is out filming God knows what, Collins, I have no idea, and Jo is at home preparing a case for tomorrow. I was _so bored. _I thought I'd come over and see what you're up to. But I see you were out and I was still bored, so I waited. So...where were you?" she repeated her question.

"Well, if you must know," Roger said. "I was at the Life Cafe."

"Ooh," Maureen replied. "With whom, if I might ask?"

"A girl named Chloe I met today. She asked me if I wanted to get a drink and I said yeah so there you go," Roger said. "Can you leave now?" He said politely.

"Ook then," Maureen said, her voice dragging. "I'll leave you to your thoughts, loverboy." Roger made a face at this comment. She got up off the couch and walked out the door.

He just sat there, thinking about the previous few hours. He enjoyed Chloe's company tonight, if it was ever going to be only that. But part of it wanted it to be something more. Maybe he was just lonely. But maybe he was ready to move on. Either way, he liked Chloe. He knew he would have to tell her about his HIV. He hoped she wouldn't run, that she would stay and accept him even with his disease. _Don't get ahead of yourself man, you've only known her for one day, _Roger thought. But he had to have something good to think about. A plan of sorts, to think of a better future for himself. Who knows if this would turn out, he had to at least believe in the possibilty. He_ had _to believe it so he could believe his two angels sent Chloe to him.

**And that is chapter two!**

**She's a mom! by the way, it took me FOREVER to come up with a baby name, i even googled baby names of the early 90s, LOL! **

**the drama will ensue...**

**In case you haven't noticed, the linebreaks kind of signal a change in POV. I know it's still 3rd person, but you can tell it's more one one character's side of things in their little section.**

**I don't know if the other RENT characters will have major parts in this story, so sorry if you're big 'let's have all the boho's in the story' kind of people. i might end up letting you down. oh well...**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. enjoy and review!**

**Written late at night, so sorry if it isn't that great...please please please review!**

Chloe woke to the sound of her 6 month old crying at 6:30 in the morning. She went into Hannah's room. She picked the baby up and sat down in the rocking chair, rocking back and forth. Chloe began to lightly hum 'Hush Little Baby' and Hannah soon fell back asleep.

"Might as well start the day," Chloe said, seeing that her alarm was set to go off in only half an hour. She turned on the coffee maker and tuned the radio to her favorite station. She quickly got ready for the day, Matt had the morning babysitting shift and would be there in an hour. At around 7:30, she went into Hannah's room yet again, the now bubbly baby standing supporting herself on the bar of the crib and smiling at her mother as she entered the room.

"Well good morning Miss Hannah!" Chloe said cheerfully to her baby as she picked her up. "Why aren't you just all smiles this morning."

She walked the not even 7 steps to the kitchen and put Hannah in her highchair. She got the carrot flavored baby food from the fridge and a clean spoon from the sink.

* * *

It was now _10:30. _Roger was already up and dressed, ready for the day. His fellow roommates found this odd, as they were still eating breakfast. He walked over to the sofa and grabbed his coat.

"I think I'm gonna go for another walk today," He told them. "See you guys later." And he walked out the door.

Roger made his way down the several flights of stairs, a slight spring in his step. He had been thinking about Chloe ever since she left. He was genuinely excited to see her again today.

Again, he made his way past all the local businesses and shops to the elementary school where he saw her with all her painting supplies walking out the school door to the wall.

* * *

Chloe struggled to open the door and keep a hold of all the paints, brushes, and easel all at the same time, but she made it through. She made it halfway to the wall when she saw a pair of hands gently taking the easel and a paint can away from her. She looked up to see Roger, a smile crept to her face.

"Thanks," she said, tucking a stray section of hair behind her ear.

"No problem," Roger replied, walking with her over to the mural wall. At this point, she only had the outlines of all the childrens' faces drawn. "So how long does it usually take you to finish one of these?" he asked to start the conversation, motioning to the wall.

"I'll let you know when I finish it," Chloe laughed. "This is my first real painting job." She got her paints set up along with the easel, once again attaching the sketch to it. Then, she just stared at the wall, considering what to do first.

"Not that I know a lot about painting," Roger said, crossing his arms. "But I do believe it works a lot better to actually pick up the brush rather than try to paint with your mind," he lamely joked.

"Aw, so funny I forgot to laugh," Chloe scoffed then giggled a little. "And I am _visualizing_ what I want it to look like, for your information."

"Alright then, I'll let you stare at the wall as long as you want," He said jokingly, leaning against the lamppost.

"Ok, I will _visualize_ my final masterpiece," Chloe said sarcastically. "Do you have anywhere else to be today? I know you said you were between bands but don't you have another part-time job somewhere?" she inquired, changing the subject.

"Nope," Roger said. "My roommates are the moneymakers, well, cash scroungers, if you want to get specific."

"Oh, what do they do?" Chloe asked, just keeping the conversation moving along.

"Well, my friend Tom...Collins," Chloe laughed, it wasn't everyday you heard of a real person with the name of a drink. "Yeah, anyways," Roger said. "He's a college professor at NYU, so he has an ok paying job...but only during the school year. My other roommate, Mark, is a filmmaker."

"Well that's interesting," Chloe observed. She hoped Roger wouldn't ask about her like that. Anything at all about her personal life involved Hannah somehow. There was no way around talking about her. "So what kind of films does he make?" she asked, keeping the topic on Roger's friend.

"He says that he films life. I guess it's a poetic and profound topic, but I get annoyed when he sticks the camera in my face all the time," Roger explained. He laughed quietly to himself after a few seconds. In the silence, Chloe feared he would ask her a question about her life. She just couldn't think of a question that would allow for a detailed answer from him.

"So what about you?" he asked. "Got any annoying roommate problems?" Chloe carefully thought about her answer.

"Yeah, she can be really loud sometimes," Chloe said smoothly. "And she's a picky eater." Chloe smiled in her mind at that tiny inside joke. She had just started Hannah on carrot baby food. Not going so well.

"Same with Collins," Roger stated. Chloe gave him a funny look. "Vegetarian."

"I see," Chloe replied.

**Ok, awkward place to end the chapter, but I can't think of of other stuff and keep the chapter semi-not to terribly long, so sorry. **

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	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, I know I'm skipping like, the entire relationship building process, but I really really wanted to get the drama in the story moving, so here you go. Deal with it.**

**Review please!**

The schedule of the next several weeks were almost identical. Roger would meet Chloe at the wall and talk to her as she painted, then they would go off to the Life Cafe or some other bar or wherever. Roger could tell that she intentionally worked very slowly on the mural, often messing up on purpose, just to spend more time with him.

They began to fall in love. It was the happiest that Roger had been in a very long time, and he could tell it was the same for Chloe. He didn't want to do anything to risk losing this natural high.

Roger walked Chloe to the subway station. She insisted this was where they said goodnight, and that it made no sense for him to go all the way to Queens just to come straight back.

"Goodnight Roger," Chloe said, kissing Roger quickly.

"'Night Chlo," Roger replied. He kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. However, they were interrupted by the subway horn. Chloe let go of Roger's neck, straightening herself out.

"Bye," she said, walking towards the train as the doors slid open. She turned around. "Same time tomorrow?" She called, in reference to Roger meeting her at the wall.

"Yes ma'am," Roger called back to her. He waited until she was on the train and it had pulled away from the station before he left, as he always did.

On the way back to the loft, he ran into Maureen and Joanne.

"Hey you guys," Roger said, stopping to talk to him for a bit.

"Hi Roger," Joanne said. "We were just heading to the Life, wanna join us? We're meeting Mark and Collins and some other people there."

"Actually, I was just there about 30 minutes ago," Roger started but was soon interrupted by Maureen.

"Oh, c'mon. It'll give us chance to catch up. I hear you have a new girlie. You can tell us all about her!" she said, looping her arm around Roger's and practically dragging him in the direction of the restaurant. Roger figured he'd rather him be the one to tell Maureen about Chloe than Mark or Collins, so he walked with them.

They finally got there and Roger took a seat with his fellow bohemians. He went to the bar to get himself a drink when the bartender stopped him.

"Hey," the man called. "The girl you were with tonight left this at the booth." He pulled a wallet out from under the bar and handed it to Roger. "'Figured one of you would be back some time for it."

"Thanks," Roger replied, walking back to the table. "Hey guys I gotta go," he gave his unopened beer to Joanne, rushing to put his jacket on. "Talk to you later." He thought he should get Chloe her wallet as soon as possible. He went to the subway and got there just in time to catch the second nighttime train to Queens. He looked at Chloe's I.D. to get the address.

Time quickly passed as before Roger knew it the announcement came over the speakers that the train would be stopping soon. When it stopped he made his way to Chloe's apartment building. Just as he walked up to it he saw a man leaving and caught the door. He made his way up the stairs to Chloe's door and knocked.

* * *

The minute Chloe walked in the door to her apartment she realized she forgot her wallet. But her brother had to go home so Chloe would have to just trust someone to turn it into the bartender to hold until she came back the next day. She put her things down on the kitchen table. She found Matt in Hannah's room trying to rock the crying baby to sleep. Chloe took her from Matt and continued to rock her, lightly bouncing the baby up and down in her arms. She mouthed, "thanks" to her brother which he responded to with a smile. He kissed her cheek and then Hannah's head before he walked out the door.

"Shh, Hannah sweetie, shh," Chloe attempted to soothe her child. Chloe went to sit in the rocking chair. She started softly humming a lullaby, that always did he trick. The baby was out in less than 2 minutes. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing Hannah to wake up instantly and start to cry even louder than before. _Fuck, _Chloe mentally cursed whoever rang the bell. She stood up, carrying the wailing baby with her to the door. It rang a second time. _If you ring that bell one more fucking time I swear I'll kick your ass. _She opened the door to see Roger standing there.

**dun dun dun! review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, sorry for the long delay. here you go! reviews are awesome, so leave one for me!**

_Last time..._

_"Shh, Hannah sweetie, shh," Chloe attempted to soothe her child. Chloe went to sit in the rocking chair. She started softly humming a lullaby, that always did he trick. The baby was out in less than 2 minutes. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing Hannah to wake up instantly and start to cry even louder than before. Fuck, Chloe mentally cursed whoever rang the bell. She stood up, carrying the wailing baby on her hip with her to the door. It rang a second time. If you ring that bell one more fucking time I swear I'll kick your ass. She opened the door to see Roger standing there._

* * *

Chloe stared at Roger blankly, Hannah continuing to scream at the top of her lungs. He mirrored her expression. Something inside Chloe brought her back to reality. Roger was here, right in front of her, seeing Hannah for the first time, and not in the way she would have planned at all. She turned her face down, towards her baby, taking Hannah's tiny hand in hopes to calm her down. She kissed the tiny fingers, hoping this was all a dream and Roger would disappear. But Chloe had no such luck.

Roger continued to look between Chloe and the crying baby in her arms. It took a minute, but soon it clicked. Chloe always had to get home early. The baby was hers. And she had kept the secret from him. He decided quickly to stay calm, he had an even bigger secret for her, when he was ready to tell her.

"What's her name?" Roger guessed it was a girl due to the butterflies on the child's onesie. Chloe was confused at his oddly calm tone. She lightly bounced the baby up and down in her arms, trying to get her to stop crying.

"Hannah," she said cautiously, turning the baby to face over her shoulder as she rubbed her back in effort to soothe her. "Why are you here?" It almost sounded like she was demanding an answer rather than asking a question. Hannah was beginning to quiet down and was mere minutes away from falling back to sleep, Chloe predicted.

"You left this at the Life," he held up her wallet. He looked down, almost awkwardly. "Can I come in?"

"I guess so," she sighed, opening the door to let him in. "Um," she put her free hand to her head. "Yeah, uh. Sit down, I'll be right back." She went to Hannah's room. As Chloe thought, Hannah fell asleep. She placed the baby in her crib. "Let's hope you didn't cause too much trouble," she whispered jokingly to her little girl before she kissed her forehead. She turned on the baby monitor and grabbed the other one. She walked back into the kitchen to see Roger sitting at the tiny table. "Um," she placed her palm to the side of her face, placing the monitor, almost unnecessary for the small apartment, on the counter. "Can I get you anything? Beer? Coffee?" She asked warily. She was going to avoid the conversation for as long as possible.

"No I'm fine," Roger replied, folding his hands on the table. Chloe went to the fridge and got herself a bottle of Bud Lite then went to lean against the kitchen counter. They were silent for a few minutes before Roger spoke up. "How old is she?"

"She'll be 7 months in 2 weeks," Chloe replied nervously, though she tried to feign confidence. She took a drink of her beer and looked towards the hallway that led to Hannah's room.

"And the father is-?" He began before Chloe cut him off.

"Not in the picture," she interrupted. "And I'd rather leave that subject alone," her tone was cold. She took another long sip of her beer before placing it on the counter and hopping up to sit next to it.

"I can respect that," he said. There was another few minutes of silence. "When were you planning on saying something?" his tone was about half as cold as her's was.

"What?" she said, mainly as a filler so she could think of something to say. "I-I-I don't know, Roger. It's something I've been thinking about since I met you," she confessed. "It's not exactly the easiest confession to make." Roger was instantly reminded of his own secret, well _secrets,_ he had to tell her, but he decided to hold it back for now. "But, as awkwardly as it happened, I'm glad you know. Now we can figure out where we go from here."

"Yes," Roger replied. He leaned back in the chair. He looked liked he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to get the words out.

"Does this really change anything though?" Chloe interjected. "I mean, I have a kid. Big deal. Tons of single women my age do and they can have normal lives. My family has helped me a lot through all of this. And I would never wish I didn't have Hannah, not for the world. This shouldn't change anything between us. Roger, don't make me ramble. Say something, please?" She got out in one breath.

"I know," he began, cautiously thinking of each word he was going to say. "That I forgive you for not telling me. And I know...that I still love you." That was the first time in the relationship that either of them had said it. Tears began to form in Chloe's tears. She looked down, trying to blink them out. "What is it?" he asked, standing up and walking towards her. She put up her hand defensively and turned away from him. "Come on Chlo, I said I forgive you."

She turned to face him, her face had grown red and wet with tears in the few seconds she was out of Roger's view. He wiped one tear off her cheek, his other hand tipping her chin up slightly. He kissed her gently, not even for 3 seconds before their lips separated.

"It's j-just," Chloe stammered through her tears. "N-no one has ever been so...accepting of my situation. E-very guy I ever told about her has been out the door within t-two minutes of seeing Hannah." Roger pulled her into a tight hug.

"Well those guys were all assholes," he said, trying to make it light. "Thankfully for you two, I'm not an asshole, or that much of one anyways."

They were interrupted by the sound of Hannah crying loudly. They parted, Chloe groaning slightly. She picked up the baby monitor, turning it off before walking towards the hall. She turned to face Roger.

"Roger," she said, nervous yet sure of herself. "I love you too."

And with that, she went to go comfort her baby while Roger was left smiling in the kitchen.

**Cheesy? Maybe. But you can't have a discovery chapter like this without it being cheesy, so deal with it! lol**

**Reviews are awesome!**


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